SHEPHERDSVILLE - Basketballs will be bouncing all over the state this week with high school holiday tournaments.

All six of the Bullitt County basketball programs will be participating in major events including girls’ tournaments that will be conducted at North Bullitt and Bullitt Central.

GIRLS

First Citizens Bank

Classic at North Bullitt

The oldest of the local holiday tournaments will return with the First Citizens Bank Classic at North Bullitt. The event has had a number of different formats over the years and hasn’t been held every year. The 2010 event will be an eight-team, bracket format with each of the teams playing three games.

The tournament will start tonight at North Bullitt with four games. In the upper bracket, John Hardin will take on Henry County at 3:30 p.m. That game will be followed at 5 p.m. with North Oldham taking on Atherton.

The lower bracket will start play at 6:30 p.m. on Monday with Warren Central taking on Waggener. The final game will have the Lady Eagles taking on Iroquois. North Bullitt’s first opponent is a change from some earlier schedules that had coach Amber Courtney’s team taking on Brown.

Action will continue on Tuesday with consolation bracket games at 3:30 and 5 p.m. The two semi-finals will be played at 6:30 and 8 p.m.

On Wednesday, the play will start again at 3:30 p.m. with the championship game slated for 8 p.m.

Bullitt Central Shoot-Out

For the first time in a number of years, the Bullitt Central Lady Cougars will be hosting a tournament over the holidays. The Bullitt Central Shoot-Out will be an eight-team, bracket format event with each of the teams playing three games.

Unlike the North Bullitt event, the action at Bullitt Central will not start until Tuesday with play then finishing up on Thursday. In addition, the first game each day will start at 2 p.m. with the last game planned for 7:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, play will being at 2 p.m. with South Oldham taking on Jeffersontown. The second game is slated for 3:45 p.m. and will have Holy Cross taking on North Hardin.

In the lower bracket, Oldham County will take on Doss at 5:30 p.m. In the final game of the first-round, Bullitt Central will take on Fern Creek at 7:15 p.m.

The action will pick-up again on Wednesday with play starting at 2 p.m. in the consolation bracket. The two semi-finals will then be played at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m.

The same schedule will be conducted on Thursday with games starting at 2 p.m. The championship game is set for 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Bullitt East headed

to Allen County-Scottsville

Starting on Monday, the Bullitt East Lady Chargers will be in Scottsville for the South Central Bank/Halton Classic. This is really the continuation of the old Lady Invitational of the South event with new sponsors.

This tournament will have eight teams, but will be broken down into pool play with each team guaranteed four games. The Bullitt East pool will include a pair of teams from Tennessee — Red Boiling Springs and Smith County — along with Warren East.

Bullitt East will open play at 3 p.m. (CST) on Monday against Smith County on a day in which it appears that the four games will be played consecutively. On Tuesday, the timing is different as Bullitt East will take on Warren East at 9 a.m. (CST). On Wednesday, the Lady Chargers will take on Red Boiling Springs at noon (CST).

On Thursday, the first-place teams from each of the two pools will play at 6:30 p.m. in the championship game. There will also be games that day at 9 a.m., noon and 3:30 p.m. for the fourth, third and second place finishers in each pool to play each other, respectively.

BOYS

BE in Ashland Invitational

For the first time since 2004, the Bullitt East Chargers will head east to play in the eight-team Ashland Invitational, one of the state’s oldest holiday events. Bullitt Central used to play in this event back in the 1970s.

The first game in the upper-bracket will have Simon Kenton taking on Russell at 2:30 p.m. on Monday. Bullitt East, coming off the 2-2 mark in the King of the Bluegrass, will then take on Knott County Central at 4 p.m. That opponent was the pre-season number three pick in the 14th Region.

In the lower-bracket, Ashland will open against West Carter at 7 p.m. before Male takes on Highlands at 8:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, Bullitt East will take on either Simon Kenton or Russell at either 2:30 p.m. in the consolation bracket or 7 p.m. in the first semi-final.

The championship game of the tournament is set for 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Bullitt East and Male both played in the King of the Bluegrass last week, but did not face each other. There is a better chance they will square off against each other this week.

NB in the Henry

County Invitational

The North Bullitt Eagles, coming off the championship of their own tournament last week, will play four games in three days at the Henry County Invitational starting on Tuesday.

The odd twist in this event is that all the teams will play two games on Wednesday.

The teams in North Bullitt’s pool include South Oldham, Boyle County and Western Hills.

On Tuesday, North Bullitt will take on Western Hills starting at noon. On Wednesday, North Bullitt will play South Oldham at 9 a.m. and then play again at 5:30 p.m. against Boyle County.

The teams in the opposite bracket are Letcher Central, Frankfort, Williamstown and Henry County.

The Thursday, the two fourth-place teams will start play at 10 a.m. with the third-place teams playing at noon, the second-place teams at 2 p.m. with the final, championship game, slated for 4 p.m.

BC at LaRue County

For the second time in three years, the Bullitt Central Cougars will take part in the National Guard Holiday Classic at LaRue County. This is an eight-team, bracket tournament that will start on Tuesday.

Bullitt Central will play in the final game on Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Washington County. The other two teams in the lower bracket are LaRue County and Atherton. The upper bracket teams are Waggener, Barren County, Taylor County and Lone Oak.

Games will start at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and then at 2 p.m. on Thursday as each team will play three games. The championship game is set for 8 p.m. on Thursday.